Obama slams GOP 'repeal and delay' plan for health care as 'reckless'

Republicans' developing plan to deal with ObamaCare is "repeal and delay": They'll immediately pass legislation undoing the Affordable Care Act, but it will have a built-in grace period of two to four years to allow the GOP to develop and transition to a viable alternative.

In an essay for the New England Journal of Medicine published Friday — President Obama's third contribution to an academic journal while in office and his second this week — the president castigated this course of action as a "reckless" endangerment of Americans' health care which puts politics above people. "Republican congressional leaders say they will repeal the ACA early this year, with a promise to replace it in subsequent legislation," Obama writes, but they "have yet to introduce that 'replacement bill,' hold a hearing on it, or produce a cost analysis — let alone engage in the more than a year of public debate that preceded passage of the ACA."

The climate of short-term uncertainty the delay would create could have a multitude of serious ramifications, Obama argues. "This approach of 'repeal first and replace later' is, simply put, irresponsible — and could slowly bleed the health care system that all of us depend on."

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The "repeal and delay" plan also faces opposition from within GOP ranks thanks to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who this week indicated that though he supports a repeal he will vote against the current repeal resolution as it assumes $9 trillion in additional federal debt over the next decade.